After commissioning a sword from the leader of the blacksmithing guild and a pair of armor from the smith of the Meral noble household- in order to improve his relations with them, along with ordering some other trinkets from a few of the other less notable smiths in the industrial sector, Oscar was headed off to a brothel to have some fun.
The money he had paid for the equipment was created using the \create command, however Oscar was well aware that if he merely created money that he would cause inflation, so he also made sure to use the \delete command to destroy the same amount of money that was created from the purses of people he walked by along the way.
Essentially, he had stolen money from the people he passed by, all while not even lifting a finger.
Not only this, but people seemed to love Oscar. They praised him as he passed, and begged him for mercy if they so much as touched him.
It felt good.
To be able to steal something from someone unknowingly, and in the same breath to have them praise you like some sort of king, while not even realizing that you took their money from them. Even if they later realized that their money was gone, they would never even consider that it was him who did it. What need would the leader of the heroes and the head of the Harxeau household, who held the title of Duke have for money? It would be absurd to think that he would do such a thing, It was even less likely that he would be able to take money without even coming near people.
How wonderful this world was turning out to be.
Oscar went over to the brothel, and didn't hesitate in the slightest. He showed up with a big sackful of money, held it up, and boldly claimed:
"I'll take everyone."
After getting a single room with all 7 women, including Irene, the owner of the brothel, Oscar began to question them.
"I'm looking for a boy... I don't know how old he is, however he is the illegitimate son of the king. Does that ring a bell for any of you all?"
"Mmm..."
One of the women seemed to be thinking.
"While it is true that there was a boy living here for quite a while, and his father is unknown, I don't think it's possible that the king would have shown up to a place like this. Right?"
"There's no way."
All the other women seemed to agree.
Were they lying to Oscar, or perhaps they were telling the truth? Or maybe they were too ignorant to know better. For once, Oscar couldn't read these women. Why couldn't he read them? Oscar had been to a number of brothels all over the kingdom, and the women would always fall head over heels for him... yet for some reason, these women seemed.... different.
It was as if they were simply doing a job.
Did he not appeal to them? Was that even possible?
'Perhaps they really are hiding something... no, maybe I am overthinking things. I suppose I will just have to put forth a little more effort than usual.'
This was just a cheap brothel in the corner of an alleyway. Oscar decided that it was not anything important to look into, and that it was unlikely that the king would come to this place. Oscar was only here to have his fun anyways, and if he happened to stumble on some info, that would be great- but that was not his purpose here. He could take his time while traveling from brothel to brothel- visiting every woman in the kingdom. He went around to these brothels with a slight face change as well, so that no """false""" rumors would spread about him.
"Ok... thank you anyways ladies... now then..."
----
Kyle went inside his new home in order to rest for the night.
Martin and Ralph were inside. While Martin seemed busy tinkering with a pair of leather armor, Ralph approached Kyle with a smile.
"Hey bud. Come here for a sec."
Kyle listened and put his things down on a chair before walking over to Ralph.
"Is something wrong?"
"Oh, no. Nothing of the sort. I was just wondering. Martin, aren't you curious as well? Where are you from? You didn't introduce yourself properly when we first met."
Kyle nodded.
'Ah, I see... he must be one of those formal types that Julia often talked about.'
"Sorry for the late introduction. I am Kyle. I have no father, seven mothers, and was raised in a brothel."
Ralph's eye seemed to twitch at that response and Martin let out a 'pfft' before continuing to work on his armor.
"Oh, funny man are we? I'm trying to be serious here. What does your father do? How do you know Ethan?"
'Eh? I am being serious. What does this kid want from me? Ah... shit. I can't tell him that I met Ethan because he was a customer... what do I do here?'
"Uh... yeah of course! I was... joking! Yeah, I was joking. Uh... my father is a... farmer. A farmer. I am the... third son of the family, and so I was sent off to learn a trade since I won't be able to inherit any land. Yeah... I am not particularly fond of my father because of this, so I would prefer to not talk about him. Fortunately, Ethan was kind enough to take me on after meeting my father through a job request, and so I hope to gain some skills while working with you all here, and show them that I can become even more successful on my own than either of my older brothers!"
Kyle was pretty impressed with his lie.
Was it wrong to be lying? No. Kyle had no such thoughts. He had been raised in a brothel- a pit of deception and secrets. The only thing Kyle felt any guilt for was the fact that he was denying the existence of the mothers who cared for him.
"You sure tell some odd jokes. Seven mothers?"
"Ah! In my household, we have six... maids... who are all like mothers to me, along with the... woman who is the head of the household."
Kyle worded his lie to credit his mothers for raising him, even if it was indirectly.
He did not think it was wrong to lie to someone, to deceive others, or even to use underhanded tactics. However, he did know one thing. He could never pay his debt back to his mothers, and he could never deny them in front of others- even if it was an exaggerated truth. It bothered him greatly that social customs did not allow him to speak openly about his mothers without any form of retribution, but there was nothing he could do.
He knew that his mothers would forgive him, and say something like 'There is no need to even consider giving us credit. After all, stabbing someone in the back is merely a tool of the trade if a customer becomes too much of a nuisance.'
Even so... Kyle didn't like the idea of betraying his own mothers.
Ralph seemed to be a bit wierded out but just shrugged and walked over to the bedroom while waving his hand at Kyle to call him over.
After going up the stairway, there was a hall on the third floor with two rooms on each side. On the second floor, which Kyle had passed, was a kitchen area and on the bottom floor was a storage area along with the entrance, as well as a small table which Martin had been working on.
One of the rooms on the third floor was the bathroom, and the other three were bedrooms. Kyle was shown to his bedroom by Ralph.
"Over here is your room. That one is mine, and that one is Martin's. The bathroom is there. If you have any work to do, do it on the first floor like Martin is so that you keep the upper floors clean. I don't have any issues with you, but if you leave things lying around or if you make a mess of my space I won't tolerate it."
"I see. I will be careful. I am quite used to cleaning up disgusting fluids after all."
"Did you have to clean the stables or something back on the farm?"
"Something like that."
Kyle smiled as he remembered his time in the brothel, but now he was a blacksmith's apprentice.
It was time to make some money, and assist his mothers.
He was somewhat excited about the new adventure that awaited him.
'Perhaps I will visit home again when I have made a reasonable amount to show for it.'